SWEDISH PRINCESS USURPS NORDIC QUEEN

By Malte Muller-Michaelis

The “Swedish Princess” dethroned the “Nordic Queen” last night in Stockholm in a a war fit only for blue blooded royalty and for those with  ice water coursing through their veins!

In front of a pumped up crowd of 3,000 cheering fans at the Hovet Arena, Klara Svensson and Mikaela Lauren, perspired and inspired, giving it all they had in the ring,  over ten action-packed rounds. And at the end the technically more skilled Svensson prevailed,  by landing clusters of very sharp counterpunches against the furious attacks of powerhouse Lauren who kept coming from bell one to twelve.

Klara dominated the early rounds with her excellent movement and good solid jabs. However, Mikaela never backed down and landed some hard shots to the body, which slowed her opponent down and allowed the “Nordic Queen” to steal the middle rounds. The fight then  turned into unabashed open warfare with tremendous back-and-forth action in the seventh round, a serious “Round Of The Year” contender! The late rounds Klara dominated again landing clean combinations which opened cuts under both of Mikaela’s eyes.

Judge Predrag Aleksic (Montenegro) had it 96-95, Andreas Stenberg (Sweden) saw it 97-93 and Mikael Hook (Sweden) scored the bout 98-92, all in favor of the new WBC interim World Welterweight Champion Klara Svensson who will face the winner of the October 1st clash between Unified Welterweight Champion Cecilia Braekhus (Norway) and Anne-Sophie Mathis (France).

There was an abundance of tension and animosity between the camps leading up to the fight which resulted in the bout nearly breaking out at Lauren’s walk-in before the singing of the national anthem. However, German referee Juergen Langos made sure that the fight itself stayed clean and fair except some clinching in the late rounds. After the bout both fighters hugged and expressed their respect for each other as they knew that they had been in a monumental contest.

“Mikaela is a very strong fighter and I am so proud and happy that I won this bout”, said Svensson. “It was a tough and she made me work very hard but I did it. This win means the world to me and I thank everybody who supported me and helped me to make it possible.”

Lauren was disappointed with her own performance: “I had the best training camp of my life and I felt more than ready for the challenge but I just couldn’t pull it off. I wasn’t myself today and it hurts that I couldn’t show my best performance in my most important fight. Welterweight is not my division. I had no big problems making the weight and  it took away some of my power. I am planning to return to Super welterweight which is the division in which  I feel most comfortable .”

“This was the best female fight I have seen live so far”, stated promoter Kalle Sauerland. “It is always difficult if you promote both fighters because you don’t want anyone to lose. But I think that everybody is a winner tonight. Klara and Mikaela both showed great heart. It was an amazing fight which had me on my feet just like everybody else. It was a great night for Swedish boxing and a great night of women’s boxing.”